Show me the way: How can parents pass on the faith?

Whether you’re a parent or a volunteer catechist, this theologian says the art of persuasion is key to handing on the faith. Want proof? Just watch Jesus in the gospels.

Thomas Groome learned this truth somewhat late in life: Even if you have been a major scholar in the field of religious education for decades, even if you speak internationally on the subject of handing on the faith, and lo, even if you are the primary author of three major catechetical series used by millions of children and young people, your own child will always be your toughest audience.

Who invented Advent?

The easy answer to that question is, we, the church, did. The feasts and seasons of the liturgical year all developed from the church’s desire to remember, celebrate, and live the great mysteries of our faith.

The answer gets more complicated when we realize that these seasons originated centuries ago and developed independently in different places, spreading, combining, and sometimes dying out.

Before we can talk about Advent, we have to talk about Christmas, obviously, and, less obviously, Epiphany.

Who invented Advent?

The easy answer to that question is, we, the church, did. The feasts and seasons of the liturgical year all developed from the church’s desire to remember, celebrate, and live the great mysteries of our faith.

The answer gets more complicated when we realize that these seasons originated centuries ago and developed independently in different places, spreading, combining, and sometimes dying out.

Before we can talk about Advent, we have to talk about Christmas, obviously, and, less obviously, Epiphany.

What is original sin?

You won’t find the phrase “original sin” in the Bible. The story of humanity’s “fall” in Genesis 1 doesn’t use the term, and St. Paul, one of the church’s earliest theologians, only hints at it in places. After the first century the early church fathers started to define it, but those in the East and West took different approaches.

What is original sin?

You won’t find the phrase “original sin” in the Bible. The story of humanity’s “fall” in Genesis 1 doesn’t use the term, and St. Paul, one of the church’s earliest theologians, only hints at it in places. After the first century the early church fathers started to define it, but those in the East and West took different approaches.